The Michigan State Spartans have shown a lot of promise early in the season. They narrowly lost to the number one team in the country in Kansas and recently had a massive win in the Maui Invitational Tournament. This Spartans team is very deep with the ability to run a ten-man rotation and can legitimately count on everyone to contribute in a positive way.

In that ten-man rotation, they play one freshman — and he has a chance to be special. Jase Richardson is the lone freshman in the rotation but he is arguably their best all-around player. He is the son of Michigan State legend Jason Richardson, who won a national championship with the Spartans back in 2000 as a freshman.

Jason ended up spending 13 years in the NBA but is mostly remembered for the six seasons he spent with the Golden State Warriors to start his career. For Jase, his expectations weren’t extremely high during the preseason,but with how productive and enticing he looks, he might not spend more than a year with the Spartans.

Among all freshmen guards in college basketball, he’s arguably the best finisher at the rim. Richardson has very soft touch, is great at finishing at a variety of different angles and is ambidextrous with his finishing ability. The 6-foot-3 guard is so effective at getting the rim and is efficient when he gets there.

But he’s more than just a rim finisher, as he has a solid handle to create space. Richardson is also a capable playmaker and is a good shooter. On the other end, he’s a great perimeter defender who does a great job of defending without fouling and keeping ball-handlers in front of him. His point-of-attack defense is really good, which is why Tom Izzo trusts him so much as a young freshman.

Richardson is a true two-way prospect who plays the right way, and he’s only going to get better on both ends of the floor. It may be too early to tell if he ends up entering the 2025 NBA Draft, but do not be surprised if he ends up as a first round pick in one of the next two drafts.

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